WOODSTOCK – A judge on Friday sent a McHenry man to prison for 16 years for his role in a machete attack that she called “brutal” and “heinous.”

Prosecutors reduced the attempted murder charges against 33-year-old Orlando Ferral-Mujica after he agreed to cooperate with a continued investigation into others who are believed to be involved in the December 2011 attack.

Ferral-Mujica and his younger brother, Armando, 22, were waiting outside Jose Agaton’s McHenry apartment when the brothers attacked him from behind, striking him in the neck and head with a machete, prosecutors have said. Agaton also was shot and the bullet lodged in his arm.

A gun and bloody machete were found in the brother’s apartment.

Agaton survived the attack, and a doctor said it was a miracle the machete didn’t cut a major blood vessel in his neck. He suffers from headaches and emotional distress, and is “grossly disfigured,” Assistant State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally said.

“This is a man capable of profound viciousness,” he said.

The Ferral-Mujicas have said they attacked Agaton because he killed their uncle in Mexico.

“This was a blood feud between individuals who took it upon themselves to resort to vigilante justice,” McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather said in handing down her sentence.

Defense attorney Victor Armendariz said his client regretted his role in the crime but was thankful that it didn’t go further. He asked for a 14-year sentence given that Orlando Ferral-Mujica cooperated with investigators.

The younger Ferral-Mujica also was charged in the incident and currently is serving 16 years behind bars.